Drift Away – Bari and Tenor

[RockinRobin]

Great job Pete. “Always on my mind” has always been one of my favorites
William

[Pete]

Thanks William& Mike, yes love this tune myself, trying to get a better track/ sheet music.

[john]

many years ago I did have a bari kickin around which I never owned, it was either loaned or rented as I needed one so I didn’t get too deep into it but I remember shopping for a mp and the one I chose from a handful the store had was a Bari brand. It was plastic and cost about 30 bucks!
the salesman laid out a few really nice top end ones then at the last second said hey try this one too….it’s cheap but you could always use it as a door stop if doesn’t work out!
anyway I tried them all and actually preferred this thing so bought it and used it on and off for a few years. In those days my reeds were either Rico or Vandoren. If I got a bari now I would be starting all over again like you I guess….
I would see what others are using and check out whatever I could. Reeds are a bit easier since they’re not a big expense like a mp so you can order several online and choose that way.
Maybe start with what you are liking on tenor, at least reed-wise. That’s what I’d do.

[Anonymous]

@Pete – nice playing.

All you have to do is find any forum, and at the top of the page were it says “Create New Topic” —- just click on it, Then you can create your own Tile for your own song that you are uploading, and then add all the details that you normally do in other peoples threads.

It’s far better to create your own thread, you don’t have to of course, as no one minds.

However if someone is looking to hear how someone plays a specific song, they won’t find it if its under someone else’s thread.

[Anonymous]

@Mike – have you tried La Voz reeds? They play like the reed you using.

https://www.daddario.com/products/woodwinds/tenor-saxophone/tenor-sax-reeds/la-voz-tenor-saxophone-reeds/

[Pete]

Thanks SP i did try that ( i think) but i will do that next time, thanks for the replying.

[Pete]

Mike regarding reeds i am no expert and like SP mentioned La Voz are good reed only problem is you will be lucky to get 4 good ones from a box of 10! Mike i am sure you would like the Legere American cut reed (synthetic) i love mine plays straight from the box and you can modify them if you need ( with caution) also the signature one is ok legere will exchange it if it is not suitable i am sure i have read that somewhere. the reed i used on my last recording on here Always on My Mind was with a Hartman hemp reed, just messing about at moment with everything.

[Anonymous]

@Pete – i’ve been buying cane reeds in a box for several years, and every single cane reed has worked. In fact my cane reeds lasts nearly a year, i’ve been using the same three cane reeds on rotation from the same box i bought last June.

The big problem is, if you start playing a cane reed straight out of a box, then you will ruin it straight away, the common myth that only a few reeds work in every box of reeds, is a lie – that applies to decades ago. Modern day technology has advanced a lot further since then and the cane reeds processed nowadays are a lot more reliable.

A cane reed still needs to be treated and broken in properly before you start using it, any Pro player will tell you that.

The only genuine reason for using synthetic reeds is if you haven’t got the patience to break a cane reed in properly, or if you haven’t got the patience to warm up a cane reed before playing.

Synthetic reeds are ideal for beginners, and teachers in situations where you have to keep putting the sax down and picking up the sax every few minutes. Sound wise with synthetic reeds they don’t work as well as cane reeds if you are playing over the full range of the sax.
They tend to work better in the lower and mid sections of the sax but higher up they sound false and plasticky – their ideal for rock where the quality of the sax sound doesn’t matter when playing along with loud electric guitars and drums.

I play alto and all the synthetic reed brands i’ve tried – i’ve thrown away out of frustration due to the lack of sound consistency across the sax keys.

[Pete]

SP
I hear what you are saying tell John that he plays with synthetic most times now i think and seems to like them?
I have no problem honestly with synthetic reeds, i did in the past and did what you did and binned them but now they have come a long way and it is getting more popular with the pro’s now. I can get the full range on sax no problem and done all the adjustments with cane and had success but you can play about to much and waste a lot of time and money with cane.
This is only my take on the subject, this topic will go on an on i guess.

[Anonymous]

@Pete – i don’t play Tenor sax, so synthetic reeds might be ok with Tenors. But with my Alto Sax, the latest synthetic reeds don’t sound realistic on an Alto sax especially when you play higher up the scale.

Rock music is ideal for synthetic, classic music you won’t find many people using synthetic reeds.

It’s all down to how good your hearing is and how close you are to being pitch perfect.

The biggest problem with synthetic reeds, when i waste one, it’s the equivalent to wasting a whole box of cane reeds that last me over two years.

[Author]

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